Abstract:

Testicular rhabdomyosarcoma is relatively rare in testicular tumors, but the age of patient is relatively young and the degree of malignancy is high. Therefore, this article introduces 4 cases of testicular rhabdomyosarcoma who were admitted to Peking University Third Hospital from May 1994 to February 2019, and reviews the literature to improve the diagnosis and treatment of this disease. The average age of the 4 patients was 17.5 years (14-21 years), the average hospital stay was 22.0 d (17-31 d), and the average body mass index was 19.6 kg/m² (14.7-25.8 kg/m²). All the patients underwent routine preoperative blood and urine routine, biochemical tests, as well as serum tumor markers. Preoperative examinations also included chest radiograph, electrocardiogram, ultrasound of the scrotum and groin, and abdominal enhanced CT. Lung CT or other examinations were performed if necessary. The median serum human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) of the 4 patients was 0.20 IU/L (0.06-0.86 IU/L) (all normal), and the median serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was 1.03 g/L (0.65-1.66 g/L) (all normal). The average maximum diameter of the tumor was 10.0 cm (4.5-15.0 cm). Testicular rhabdomyosarcoma was mainly diagnosed by pathology. The main treatment was radical orchiectomy combined with retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, with or without postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. The clinical manifestations of the patients with testicular rhabdomyosarcoma had no specific characteristics, but most patients were young at onset with mainly painless masses in the testicles, which were already large when they were found. Patients with testicular rhabdomyosarcoma have a poor prognosis, most of whom recur within two years. Because of the small number of cases of testicular rhabdomyosarcoma, there is no standard treatment currently. It is recommended that patients with testicular rhabdomyosarcoma undergo radical testicular resection combined with retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. Retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis is an important prognostic factor, and patients with postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy can still survive for a longer time. If local recurrence or limited metastasis is found after operation, local resection and salvage radiotherapy are feasible.

Key words: Testicular neoplasms, Rhabdomyosarcoma, Orchiectomy, Lymph node excision